Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Vaccinations

My goodness me, it has been a while since my last post.  Apologies.  I don't have a really good excuse, I have just been lazy.  But hey, I'm writing now so good for me!

A great deal has been happening recently and for once it is not he who has been the focus of the medical interventions.  That honour goes to my son who broke his arm (which I blogged about last time) went to hospital for a minor dental procedure and managed to scrape all the skin off his index finger which then became infected and needed to be treated with antibiotics.  Aside from the dental procedure, which was purely cosmetic, the other two were just a nine year old boy being a nine year old boy.

After saying all that the doctors have not completely eluded me either as the juggernaut, which is my medical story rolls on.  I had blood work done recently which finally showed my blood levels had returned to normal.  This meant that it was time to revisit my immunisation regime and my oh my there are a lot of them.

Now for most HSCT patients this is nothing more than procedure but with a patient that had HSCT for an auto immune disease this process is much more complicated.  I will elaborate.

Auto immune diseases do not just happen.  Some people may have a genetic predisposition to contracting one of them but there is always an environmental trigger that starts the process.  There are many things that can be the trigger.  A virus or infection, a toxin, a medication or allergic reaction... The list is almost endless but one of the biggest suspects is a vaccine.

It is really quite logical.  A vaccine is designed to trigger an immune response that means if a person is exposed to the disease that has been vaccinated against, the persons immune system will attack the disease.  If the immune system misinterprets the vaccine it could end up causing an autoimmune (AID) disease.  The problem is most medical professionals will refute this link but there are sufferers of autoimmune diseases that swear black and blue that the vaccine was their "trigger".

Personally, I believe that a vaccination could be responsible for causing an AID.  But the question is whether the benefit of me having a vaccine is worth the risk of having a relapse.  Since I am fairly sure that a vaccine didn't trigger my AID in the first place I think that a vaccine won't do it to me this time.  However, I'm going to go pretty slowly with it just to be safe.  My program will be on and off for over a year.

Just so you know, this is a decision I have taken very seriously.  I let you all know how I go as I progress.  Until next time, stay well:)

4 comments:

  1. Could it be the suspension that the vaccine is in and not the vaccine? Just throwing it out there

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  2. what vaccines are you considering and why? I didn't think we needed any going thru a non-meyoblative transplant. Is this a personal choice or recommended? My immunologist has recommended a pneumonia shot for me since my issue with a bad sinus infection, but still not sure I'm going to do it.
    Wendy

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  3. One thing I have considered with my kids (3 and 5) is that if we do the vaccines really slowly, we're unlikely to put the body into too much turmoil and create confusion (AID). I insist on doing only one vaccine with them every few months, despite the eye rolls from the pediatricians. I think you're right, though -- there's some risk either way, so it's a matter of weighing them out (which is how I'm ending up doing HSCT in October ...)

    Thanks for posting this, linda

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  4. Thanks for the feedback:)

    1st. It could be the suspension of the vaccine. But I couldn't say yes or no. But it is certainly a possibility.

    2nd. Wendy, prior to my HSCT I was told at the one year mark I would have to have my vaccine teeters checked. That I did and they were all low or negative so after doing some research, thinking and a big chat with my haematologist here in Melbourne I have decided to go ahead with them. I am having flu, pneumonia, hepatitis, chickenpox, MMR and tetanus. I believe that for post HSCT survivors (like you and me) it is a completely personal decision.

    3rd. Linda, I believe you're right. Slow and steady wins the race. I do believe in vaccinating our children, but slowly. A trigger for AIDs might not just be on vaccine, but multiple vaccines at the same time. I am going really slowly with mine right now.

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